Match book



Patented Mar. 11, 1941 UNITED lSTATES PATENT GFFlCE' MATCH BOOKFrederick J. Redcliffe, New York, N. Y. Application February 24, 1940,Serial No. 320,549

.2 Claims.

This invention relates to match books and more particularly to a type soconstructed as to possess increased advertising value.

At the present time, 'match books are made and sold, and lin fact oftengiven away gratis, because of the fact :that vthe cost of 'the books isborne by the advertising. carried by the book. The space Iforadvertising on the conventional type of match book is relatively smalland the value of match books as an advertising medium is graduallydecreasing because lof uniformity in shape, construction and make-up ofthe conventional type of match book.

The object therefore, of the present invention, is to provide a match.book of novel construction wherein .a unique type of cover is employedwhich provides .a greatly increased amount of advertising space; whichalso, by reason of its novel and unique construction, serves to draw theattention of .the .user to the increased advertising space and to theadvertising borne thereby, whereby the advertising value of vthe book ismaterially enhanced. Another object of .the invention is to provide amatch book having safety features and other ad- Vantages.

In the .accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of theinvention is shown, Fig. 1 is a front elevation ora .match bookconstmcted in .accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a face view oftherear of the book; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic .edge view of the book,.clearly showing how the cover stripv is folded when 'disposed in closedposition; Fig. 4 is `a side ,elevation of the book, with thecover stripinopen position; Fig. 5 is a front view of the book with the cover stripin open position; Fig. 6 is a sectional view through the closed book;and Fig. 7 is a sectional view through the lower or base portion of amatch book of modied construction, and Fig. 8 is another modification.

The covering of the match book is made of flexible card-board of theconventional character or of any other suitable sheet material. Saidcovering includes a base member provided With a short, upturned frontretaining flap I provided on its front face with a suitable abrasivesubstance forming a match-igniting or striking surface 2. The fold 3integrally connects the retaining flap i with a back retaining flap 4which has its upper end 6 located a short distance above the heads ofthe matches in the match comb l that is held in positionbetween the twoiiaps l and 4 by means of the staple 5 or other single suitablefastening element.

The cover strip 8 constituting an advertising (Cl. 20S-29) medium,consists of an elongated strip of cardboard, several times the length ofthe match book proper, said strip 8 having one of its ends permanentlyanchored between the inner face of the retaining flap l and the frontface or the match comb l by means of the staple 5, as clearly seen inFigs. 3 and 4. The cover strip 8 is transversely folded. backward ortoward the rear retaining flap 4 as indicated at 9, and at a distancefrom .said fold, the ycover is transversely folded in a reversedirection as indicated at lil. At a .distance from the fold I il, thestrip 8 is Vagain folded forwardly as indicated at ll, the -fo'lds andlthe direction of the same being clearly seen in Fig. 4. All of thefolds .are substantially the same distance apart. i

The strip '8 is of such length that it is approximately four times thelength of the match comb i; it thus providesgreatly increasedadvertising space, since its relatively great length, particularly whenprinted on both sides, 4enables a large amount of advertising to be'imprinted on the strip, yet .the folded book is no largery in size andbulk t'han a match book of conventional construction.

The folds in the cover strip are so ldisposed that the cover stripalmost automatically yinds its way into closed position when it ispushed with the ngers toward the match comb. That is to say, fold 9causes fold l0 to be inserted between the back of the match comband theface of the flap 4, as clearly seen in Figs. 3 and 6. Fold Il, extendingforwardly extends over the top of fold `i! and kdirects the free end l2of the vcover strip toward the retaining flap l, behind which it `iseasily tucked by the ngers'as seen in Fig. v6. When' in closed position,the strip 8 straddles the match comb and has portions of doublethickness located at the opposite sides of the comb. It will also benoted that both ends of the folded strip are disposed at the same sideof the match comb, or are tucked between the retaining flap and a faceof the match comb. The entire strip 8 is easily drawn out to either readthe advertising borne by it or to expose the matches 1, which can bepulled from the comb as required and ignited in the conventional manneron the striking strip 2. It will be noted that the body of the lengthystrip 8 is interposed between the matches in the comb and the strikingsurface so that the strip 8 acts as a shield when a match is beingignited and prevents accidental ignition of the matches in the comb bythe flame from that match which is ignited.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, the entirecovering for the match comb is made of two sections of card-boardnamely, that which forms the base member composed of the front retainingflap I and back retaining ap 4 and that which constitutes the coverstrip 8. There are numerous advantages in making the covering in twoparts in this manner, one of which is that the base portion of thecovering,

or that composed of the flaps I and 4, may be` made of slightly thickeror heavier card-board than that of which the cover strip is composed.Another advantage is that the printing or lithography of the cover strip8 may take place apart from and quite independently of the printing orother indicia provided on the base portion.

However, I do not wish to be understood as limiting the invention to acovering composed of two independent sections of materiaLsince theentire covering including the elements I and 4 as well as the coverstrip 8 may be readily made in a single piece. For example, in Fig. 7 Ihave shown the retaining strip I doubled downwardly as at I4 and thenbrought upwardly as at I5 to con- A-tinue into the formation of thecover strip 8.

Wilth this arrangement, the' entire covering may be formed of a single,lengthy section of cardboard.

With a match book of the construction shown, various advantages aresecured. The advertising value of the book is multiplied because of thegreatly increased advertising space; the safety factor is stressedbecause of the fact that the A lengthy cover strip forms a shieldbetween an ignited match and the matches in the comb; the lengthy coverstrip, having a series of folds dividing it into panels, provides amedium for thereception of several pictures, cartoons or detachablecoupons. While the lengthy strip appears, when viewed in the drawing, tobe possibly cumbersome and inconvenient when using the book, such isactually not the case, since the several folds formed in the strip causethe strip to almost auto matically fall into folded or closed positionwhen thrust by the fingers toward the base portion. For those nervoustypes of individual to whom the lengthy cover strip may be foundinconvenient to fold into closed position, 'the book is arranged toenable the cover strip to be torn away if necessary, leaving thematchesthen held in the base portion consisting of the frontretainingilap I and integrally formed back retaining ap 4.

It will be apparent that the match book disclosed is extremely flexiblein its uses, both from the advertising standpoint and from conveniencein use to suit the various temperaments of individuals-into whose handsthe book may come.

WhileI have, in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusiveshown fold 9a is also reversedfrom the direction of fold 9. In the structure of Fig. 8 it will be seenthat whilethefcover strip straddles the match comb, it has a portion yoftriple thickness disposed between one face of the match comb and thefront retaining flap I and a portion of single thickness located betweenthe opposite face of the match comb and the back retaining flap 4. Thisy arrangement of folding may be found convenient under certaincircumstances.

4What I claim is:

1. A match book comprising, a match comb, a U-shaped base cover portioncomprising an upturned front retaining ap and an upturned back retainingap, the match comb being disposed between said retaining flaps, afastening element extending through said iiaps and through the matchcomb, an advertising cover strip of substantially four times the. lengthof the match comb, said cover strip having one end held by the fasteningelement between the match comb and one of said flaps and foldabletransversely at spaced points to provide four panels of substantiallythe length of the match comb, said cover strip when in folded closedposition overlying the match comb and having one folded portion disposedbetween the match comb and one of said aps and the free end thereofdisposed between the match comb and the other of said flaps.

2. A match book comprising, a match comb, a U-shaped base cover portioncomprising an upturned front retaining flap and an upturned backretaining ap, the match comb being disposed between said retainingflaps, a fastening element extending through said iiaps and through thematch comb, an advertising cover strip of substantially four times thelength of the match comb, said cover strip having one end held by thefastening element between the match comb and one of said aps andfoldable transversely at spaced points to provide four panels ofsubstantially the length of the match comb, said cover strip when infolded closed position providing a two-ply cover overlying the matchcomb and having one folded portion disposed between the match comb andone of said flaps and the vfree end thereof disposed between the matchcomb and the other of' said flaps.

FREDERICK J. REDCLIFFE.

